Law on International Assistance (2008)

1 The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) Text consolidated by Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) with amending laws of: 28 May 2009 [shall come into force from 1 July 2009]; 12 September 2013 [shall come into force from 1 January 2014]; 31 October 2013 [shall come into force from 27 November 2013]; 1 December 2016 [shall come into force from 4 January 2017]; 16 January 2020 [shall come into force from 13 February 2020]. If a whole or part of a section has been amended, the date of the amending law appears in square brackets at the end of the section. If a whole section, paragraph or clause has been deleted, the date of the deletion appears in square brackets beside the deleted section, paragraph or clause. The Saeima 1 has adopted and the President has proclaimed the following law: Law on International Assistance Section 1. Terms Used in this Law The following terms are used in this Law: 1) international assistance – development cooperation and participation in international missions and operations implemented by the Republic of Latvia; 2) development cooperation – provision of assistance to least developed countries in order to promote the long-term social and economic development of such countries and their societies; 3) recipient country – a country that receives international assistance; 4) provider of international assistance – the direct or indirect State administration institution or international organisation that provides funding for the implementation of an international assistance activity (hereinafter – the provider); 5) international assistance activity – a development cooperation project, a voluntary contribution, or an international mission or operation; 6) activity programme – an aggregate of several international assistance activities with a joint purpose; 7) development cooperation project – a non-commercial activity or an aggregate of activities with defined implementation results, implementers, and term of execution; 8) joint (trilateral or multilateral) international assistance activity – a development cooperation project or an activity programme in which separate activities of the project or programme are implemented by two or several providers one of which is representing the Republic of Latvia; 9) international mission – an activity in the implementation of which a civil expert participates and which is implemented upon an invitation of international organisations to participate in a mission led thereby or upon a bilateral or multilateral agreement of the countries; 91) international operation – an activity led by an international organisation, a country, or several countries in the implementation of which a civil expert participates and the purpose of which is to restore and maintain peace in conflict areas; 10) civil expert – a natural person whose participation in an international mission or operation is approved by the Cabinet; 11) implementer of a development cooperation project – a person who has been selected as the implementer of a development cooperation project in accordance with the Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) 2 procedures laid down in laws and regulations or who implements the development cooperation project selected in accordance with the procedures laid down in laws and regulations; 12) delegated cooperation – a joint agreement of one or more providers that one provider (the leading provider) acts on the behalf of other providers (delegating providers) in the implementation of an international assistance activity or an activity programme; 13) voluntary contribution – a contribution intended for international organisations, international initiatives, and funds that use the allocated financial resources for the implementation of international assistance or rendering of humanitarian aid; 14) approval procedure – a procedure by which the allocation of funding for the implementation of an international assistance activity is approved or by which the implementer of a development cooperation project or a civil expert is selected; 15) grant – a payment to the implementer of a development cooperation project for the implementation of a project which has been submitted thereby to a grant project tender and which has been approved for funding by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 16) foreign expert – a foreigner who is not a payer of the payroll tax in the Republic of Latvia, but who is implementing the activities provided for under a development cooperation project or receives financial or non-financial benefit from the implementation of that project; 17) national expert – a payer of inland taxes (resident) of the Republic of Latvia who is a payer of the personal income tax in the Republic of Latvia and who is implementing the activities provided for under a development cooperation project or receives financial or non financial benefit from the implementation of that project; 18) person involved in implementation of the development cooperation project – the administrative staff of a project (project manager, project coordinator, accountant or any other person involved in project administration), a national expert, or a foreign expert. [28 May 2009; 16 January 2020] Section 2. Purpose of this Law The purpose of this Law is to ensure efficient and transparent planning and implementation of international assistance provided by the Republic of Latvia in order to ensure and provide quality and efficient international assistance to recipient countries in conformity with the principles and good practice in the implementation of international assistance of the United Nations, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Section 3. Scope of Application of the Law (1) The Law prescribes the procedures by which international assistance is planned and implemented. (2) The Law prescribes the competence of the responsible institutions involved in the planning and implementation of international assistance. (3) The Law shall not apply to military persons of the Republic of Latvia, nor to the officials of the institutions of the system of the Ministry of the Interior with special service ranks and their participation in international missions and operations. (4) The Law shall not apply to the commitments of the Republic of Latvia to make the mandatory annual contributions to international organisations. (5) The Law shall not apply to the provision of humanitarian aid, except for cases when voluntary contributions are made for funding humanitarian aid. (6) The Law shall not apply to other kinds of assistance which is not development cooperation and participation in international missions and operations. [16 January 2020] Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) 3 Section 4. Responsible Institutions (1) International assistance shall be planned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the Consultative Council for Development Cooperation Policy and the Consultative Council for the Participation of Latvian Civil Experts in International Civil Missions and Operations according to the competence specified in laws and regulations. (2) The administration of the approval procedures specified in this Law shall be conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs according to the competence specified in this Law and other laws and regulations. (3) State administration institutions not referred to in this Law and local governments may carry out activities in the field of international assistance, without conforming to the conditions of this Law in respect of the application of approval procedures. (4) Section 4, Paragraph three of this Law shall not apply to cases where, in accordance with the Public Procurement Law, a public procurement is required, and also to the approval procedure specified in Section 5, Clause 2 of this Law. [16 January 2020] Section 5. Approval Procedures Approval procedures are as follows: 1) grant project tender; 2) approval of a civil expert for participation in an international mission or operation; 3) public procurement; 4) voluntary contribution; 5) delegated cooperation; 6) international assistance activities provided for in the policy planning documents approved by the Cabinet; 7) decision by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reallocate the unutilised financial resources intended for development cooperation for other activities of development cooperation. [16 January 2020] Section 6. Functions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Field of International Assistance (1) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall develop the Development Cooperation Policy Plan and medium-term policy planning documents in accordance with laws and regulations. (2) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall coordinate the approval procedure specified in Section 5, Clause 2 of this Law. (3) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall cooperate with foreign providers in order to implement joint (trilateral or multilateral) international assistance activities or delegated cooperation. [16 January 2020] Section 7. Development Cooperation State Agency [16 January 2020] Section 8. Functions of the Agency [16 January 2020] Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) 4 Section 9. Grant Project Tender (1) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall implement grant project tenders by developing and announcing the respective tenders. The priorities and objectives of the projects to be submitted, and also recipient countries and the available funding shall be determined in tenders. The announcement of each tender shall be approved by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. (2) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs may announce a fixed-term (single) grant project tender and a grant project tender of unlimited duration in the Republic of Latvia or in the recipient country. (3) Upon announcement of a fixed-term grant project tender, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall determine the deadline for the submission of project applications. (4) Upon announcement of a grant project tender of unlimited duration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall evaluate project applications and provide funding based on the order in which they were submitted. The interested persons shall submit project applications for as long as the minimum funding specified within the scope of the tender for the implementation of one project is available. (5) A grant may be received by State institutions of direct and indirect administration, derived public persons, other State institutions, and also associations, foundations, merchants, trade unions, and other subjects. A grant may not be received by political parties and their associations. Natural persons who are citizens of the respective recipient country or who hold a permanent residence permit in the recipient country may also apply for a grant project tender and receive a grant in the recipient country. (6) In order to implement development cooperation more efficiently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is entitled to announce grant project tenders, narrowing down the range of possible grant recipients referred to in Paragraph five of this Section. (7) The Cabinet shall determine the procedures for preparing and announcing grant project tenders, for taking of decisions on the allocation of a grant, for entering into grant contracts and completing a tender, for supervising and controlling the project implementation, and also the cases in which the grant recipient returns the allocated financial resources. (8) A grant shall not be allocated in the following cases: 1) the project application does not conform to the requirements specified in the tender regulations; 2) the funding available in the tender is not sufficient to allocate a grant for the project implementation; 3) there is an objective reason why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot enter into a grant contract with the project applicant (for example, force majeure circumstances, specific circumstances in the recipient country which preclude the project implementation). (9) The decision by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be appealed in a court in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Administrative Procedure Law. The appeal of the decision shall not suspend the operation thereof. [28 May 2009; 16 January 2020] Section 9.1 Accessibility of Information During a Grant Project Tender (1) Project applications submitted during a grant project tender shall be restricted access information. (2) Information on persons who have assessed the project applications submitted for the grant project tender shall be restricted access information. (3) The following information shall be regarded as generally accessible information: 1) grant recipient (the given name and surname of a natural person or the name and legal address of a legal person); 2) project title; Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) 5 3) amount of the grant allocated; 4) place and time of the project implementation; 5) summary of the activities to be carried out within the scope of the project; 6) summary of the results achieved within the scope of the project. (4) The information referred to in Paragraph three of this Section is accessible after the decision to allocate a grant has entered into effect. (5) Only the project applicant has the right to receive information on the progress of the project application before the decision to allocate a grant has entered into effect. (6) The project applicant has the right to acquaint himself or herself with the project assessment materials only after the final decision to allocate a grant has been taken. [28 May 2009] Section 10. Voluntary Contribution (1) Financial resources for voluntary contributions shall be provided for in the Development Cooperation Policy Plan. (2) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall transfer financial resources to the respective recipient of financial resources of the voluntary contribution. [16 January 2020] Section 11. Delegated Cooperation (1) Delegated cooperation shall be implemented as follows: 1) by receiving co-funding from foreign providers for the implementation of a development cooperation project or an activity programme selected by using the approval procedures specified in Section 5, Clause 1, 3, or 6 of this Law; 2) by allocating co-funding to a foreign provider from the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the implementation of a specific development cooperation project or activity programme or the attainment of a specific objective of development cooperation. The foreign provider shall utilise the allocated financial resources in accordance with the laws and regulations and procedures of the country thereof. (2) The Cabinet shall determine the procedures by which delegated cooperation is implemented. [16 January 2020] Section 12. Approval of a Civil Expert for Participation in an International Mission or Operation (1) Civil experts shall participate in international missions and operations on the basis of a resolution, recommendation, or request of those international organisations with which the Republic of Latvia has entered into international agreements, and also upon the invitation of a Member State the European Union or the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). (2) The Cabinet shall take the decision on the participation of a civil expert in an international mission or operation. (3) The Cabinet shall determine the procedures by which a civil expert is sent to participate in an international mission or operation, the conditions for the participation of a civil expert, and also the procedures for the provision of funding for the participation. [16 January 2020] Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) 6 Section 13. Maximum Amount of Remuneration, Daily Allowance, and Hotel (Accommodation) Expenditures for a Person Involved in Implementation of the Development Cooperation Project and Social Guarantees for a Civil Expert (1) The Cabinet shall determine the maximum amount of remuneration, daily allowance, and hotel (accommodation) expenditures for a person involved in implementation of the development cooperation project. (2) If a civil expert, while performing the duties of office in an international mission or operation, has suffered in an accident or died, the Cabinet shall take the decision to disburse an allowance or compensation in accordance with the following procedures: 1) if a civil expert, while performing the duties of office in an international mission or operation, has suffered in an accident and suffered an injury or mutilation, or other damage has been caused to the health of the civil expert (except for occupational disease) and, within 12 months after the accident, the State Medical Commission for the Assessment of Health Condition and Working Ability has determined disability for him or her for a period not less than on year, and the cause of disability is the injury or health disorder related to the participation of the civil expert in a civil mission or operation, a lump sum allowance in the following amount shall be disbursed: a) if Group I disability has been determined – EUR 71 145; b) if Group II disability has been determined – EUR 35 573; c) if Group III disability has been determined – EUR 14 229; 2) if a civil expert, while performing the duties of office in an international mission or operation, has suffered in an accident and suffered an injury or mutilation, or other damage has been caused to the health of the civil expert (except for occupational disease), but no disability has been determined, a lump sum allowance in the following amount shall be disbursed: a) if a severe damage to health has been caused – EUR 10 000; b) if a moderate damage to health has been caused – EUR 5000; c) if a slight damage to health has been caused and temporary disability of work (service) lasts longer than six days – EUR 200; 3) if a civil expert has died during an international mission or operation or has died within a year after return from participation in an international mission or operation due to an injury (mutilation, concussion) or a disease the cause of which is related to performing the duties of office in an international mission or operation, the burial of the civil expert is covered from the State budget funds. A lump sum compensation in the amount of EUR 100 000 shall be disbursed on the basis of a decision by the Cabinet to his or her spouse and descending relatives, but if there are no descending relatives, to the ascendant relatives of the nearest degree of kinship. If the respective civil expert has no spouse, descending relatives and ascendant relatives of the nearest degree of kinship, the Cabinet shall decide on the disbursement of the abovementioned compensation to the immediate family of the deceased civil expert. The Cabinet shall determine the amount of burial expenditures and the procedures for covering thereof. (3) The allowances referred to in Paragraph two of this Section shall not be disbursed if it is established that the cause of accident is suicide or attempt thereof, use of alcohol or other intoxicating substances, violation of laws and regulations, or improper conduct. (31) [16 January 2011] (4) The Cabinet shall determine the procedures for the investigation and registration of accidents in which a civil expert has suffered while performing the duties of office in an international mission or operation. (5) Social rehabilitation expenditures shall be covered to a civil expert after return from an international mission or operation. The Cabinet shall determine the procedures by which social Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) 7 rehabilitation expenditures are covered to a civil expert after return from an international mission or operation. (6) The employer of a civil expert shall ensure his or her rights to return to his or her previous position or to an equivalent position after return of such expert from an international mission or operation. [28 May 2009; 13 November 2013; 12 September 2013; 1 December 2016; 16 January 2020] Section 14. Delegation of the Tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is entitled to delegate part of the administration of the instruments of approval to another public person or private individual in accordance with the conditions referred to in Chapter V of the State Administration Structure Law. [16 January 2020] Transitional Provisions 1. The Cabinet shall issue the regulations referred to in Section 9, Paragraph seven, Section 11, Paragraph two, and Section 12, Paragraph three of this Law within six months after coming into force of this Law. 2. [16 January 2020] 3. The Cabinet shall, by 1 November 2009, issue the regulations referred to in Section 9, Paragraph seven of this Law which prescribe the procedures for preparing and announcing grant project tenders, for implementing the administration of tenders, for assessing project applications, and for taking of a decision on the winners of tenders. Cabinet Regulation No. 659 of 12 August 2008, Procedures for the Implementation of Grant Project Tenders, shall be applicable until the coming into force of these regulations, but not later than until 1 December 2009, insofar as it is not in contradiction with this Law. [28 May 2009] 4. The Cabinet shall, by 1 July 2010, issue the regulations referred to in Section 13, Paragraph one of this Law which provide for the maximum amount of remuneration, daily allowance, and hotel (accommodation) expenditures for a person involved in implementation of the development cooperation project. [28 May 2009] 5. The Cabinet shall, by 1 April 2017, issue the regulations referred to in Section 13, Paragraph 31 of this Law. [1 December 2016] 6. The Cabinet shall, by 30 June 2020, issue the regulations referred to in Section 9, Paragraph seven, Section 12, Paragraph three, and Section 13, Paragraph five of this Law. Cabinet Regulation No. 2 of 5 January 2010, Procedures for the Implementation of Grant Project Tenders, Cabinet Regulation No. 35 of 13 January 2009, Procedures for Secondment of Civil Experts for Participation in International Missions and Procedures for Financing of Participation, and Cabinet Regulation No. 274 of 30 May 2017, Procedures for Covering Social Rehabilitation Expenses to a Civil Expert after Return from an International Mission, shall be applicable until the date of coming into force of the respective regulations, but not later than until 30 June 2020, insofar as they are not in contradiction with this Law. [16 January 2020] Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) 8 7. The Cabinet shall, by 30 June 2020, issue the regulations referred to in Section 13, Paragraph two, Clause 3 and Paragraph four of this Law. [16 January 2020] The Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 24 April 2008. Acting for the President, Chairperson of the Saeima G. Daudze Rīga, 14 May 2008